Katrina Shooting Case Collapses<

Commentary by SRaphael See news item below on Katrina shooting case.

It seem that the police officers accused of killing people trying to cross a bridge during Katrina will not be charged with murder or attempted murder. The whole case is a mess as the grand jury that heard the early aspects of the case was accused by the same judge of wrongdoing. I suspect it is once again a situation of the police get off the hook for their callous indifference based on racial bias. The police suposedly were shooting back at people shooting at them but it turns out that some people doing the shooting were only trying to get attention in a desperate attempt to be rescued. They were not trying to kill anyone and did not kill anyone. Should I give the officers the benefit of the doubt. Why should I given that the dead people were not given any opportunity to prove they were just innocent bystanders to a tragic situation and they were running while Black similar to driving while Black. I think the country owes all the Black persons who suffered in New Orleans as well as all the people who were victims of our racially insensitive system down there deserve an apology but that will never happen under GWBush.


BBC News /span>Katrina shooting case collapses<


New Orleans saw scenes of chaos in the days after Katrina
A US judge has thrown out charges of murder or attempted murder against seven New Orleans policemen involved in a shooting after Hurricane Katrina.The police officers were accused of firing on unarmed people crossing a bridge during the chaos which followed the flooding of the city.Two men died and four were wounded in the shooting on the Danziger Bridge.
The judge ruled that prosecutors had violated state law by divulging secret grand jury testimony to a witness.
Survivors of the shooting on 4 September 2005 have said that police officers fired at unarmed people crossing the bridge to get food at a grocery store.Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19, were shot and killed, and four other people were wounded.While the police officers have acknowledged shooting at people on the bridge, they say they only did so after first coming under fire. Investigators later revealed that at least some of the shooting was by residents trapped by floodwater trying to attract the attention of rescue parties.Sgt Kenneth Bowen, Sgt Robert Gisevius Jr, Officer Anthony Villavaso II and former Officer Robert Faulcon Jr had each faced first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in the case.Officer Mike Hunter Jr and Officer Robert Barrios had faced attempted first-degree murder charges, and Officer Ignatius Hills had faced attempted second-degree murder charges. Officer Faulcon resigned from the police force while the others were assigned to desk duty after their indictment, the Associated Press reports. District Judge Raymond Bigelow also ruled that prosecutors had wrongly instructed the grand jury, and that grand jury testimony by three of the officers was used against them improperly.